Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led 176 of their colleagues in writing to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to urge OPM to require all insurance carriers in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program — the largest employer-sponsored health insurance plan in the world — to cover IVF medical treatments and medications in plan year 2025.
“For plan year 2024, OPM succeeded in providing Federal employees with 24 FEHB plan options providing varying levels of coverage of ART,” wrote the Members in their letter. “Critically, for the first time in FEHB’s history, OPM secured inclusion of a national plan with ART coverage, ensuring that every Federal employee, no matter where they live, will be guaranteed at least some coverage of ART services.”
“As OPM begins to prepare for plan year 2025, we strongly urge you to build on the impressive progress the Biden administration has made in empowering the Federal Government to effectively recruit and retain the next generation of civil servants by requiring all FEHB carriers to cover IVF medical treatments and medications in plan year 2025,” the Members continued. “At a time when IVF is increasingly under attack by the extreme personhood movement, President Biden would send a strong message that his administration, in word and deed, are true champions of safeguarding the right of families to decide if, when and how to build a family.”
In addition to Connolly, the letter was signed by the following Representatives: Adams, Allred, Amo, Auchincloss, Barragán, Beatty, Bera, Beyer, Blunt Rochester, Bonamici, Bowman, Boyle, Brownley, Brown, Budzinski, Bush, Carbajal, Cárdenas, Carter, Casar, Casten, Castor, Castro, Chu, Clarke, Cleaver, Cohen, Craig, Crockett, Crow, Davis, Dean, DeGette, DeLauro,; Deluzio, DeSaulnier, Dingell, Escobar, Eshoo, Espaillat, Evans, Fletcher, Foster, Foushee, Frost, Garamendi, Chuy García, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Goldman, Gomez, Gottheimer, Grijalva, Hayes, Himes, Houlahan, Hoyer, Ivey, Jonathan Jackson, Sheila Jackson Lee, Jacobs, Jayapal, Hank Johnson, Kamlager-Dove, Kaptur, Keating, Kelly, Khanna, Kildee, Kilmer, Andy Kim, Krishnamoorthi, Kuster, Landsman, Larsen, Larson, Barbara Lee, Summer Lee, Susie Lee, Leger Fernandez, Levin, Lieu, Lofgren, Lynch, Matsui, McClellan, McCollum, McGarvey, McGovern, Menendez, Meng, Mfume, Morelle, Moskowitz, Moulton, Mullin, Nadler, Napolitano, Nickel, Norcross, Holmes Norton, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Panetta, Pappas, Pascrell, Peters,; Pocan, Porter, Pressley, Quigley, Ramirez, Raskin, Ross, Ruiz, Ryan, Sablan, Salinas, Sánchez, Sarbanes, Scanlon, Schakowsky, Schneider, Scholten, David Scott, Bobby Scott, Sewell, Sherrill, Sorensen, Soto, Spanberger, Stansbury, Stanton, Stevens, Strickland, Swalwell, Takano, Thanedar, Thompson, Titus, Tlaib, Tokuda, Tonko, Torres, Trahan, Trone, Underwood, Vargas, Vasquez, Veasey, Velázquez, Wasserman Schultz, Watson Coleman, Wexton, Wild, Williams, and Wilson.
In addition to Duckworth, the letter was signed by the following Senators: Heinrich, Van Hollen, Padilla, Gillibrand, Kaine, Booker, Merkley, Blumenthal, Cardin, Warren, Welch, Durbin, Hickenlooper, Shaheen, Warner, Bennet, Stabenow, Butler, and Coons.
"We thank Congressman Gerry Connolly and Senator Tammy Duckworth for their unwavering advocacy for comprehensive fertility coverage, including IVF,” said Dr. Paula Amato, President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). “Their dedication is pivotal in advancing fertility care access. We also commend the Office of Personnel Management for their progress. However, we urge OPM to complete the task by mandating IVF coverage in all plans and requiring that all benefit designs ensure equitable access for all individuals who may need medical intervention to build and grow their families. It's past time for the US healthcare system to support everyone on their path to parenthood, and OPM's role is crucial."
“As patient advocates, we know firsthand that one of the biggest barriers for people seeking needed medical care to build their family is lack of comprehensive health insurance for IVF, including the medications,” said Barbara Collura, President & CEO, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. “We applaud Members of Congress, led by Congressman Gerry Connolly and Senator Tammy Duckworth, for urging the Office of Personnel Management to require comprehensive coverage of IVF in Plan Year 2025. We not only need to keep IVF legal, but we also need to expand access to IVF. Let’s help our federal workforce build their families!”
Connolly and Duckworth are the authors of the Family Building FEHB Fairness Act, bipartisan legislation to require FEHB carriers to cover assisted reproductive technology, including IVF. In August 2022, Connolly and Duckworth wrote to OPM to urge the agency to require FEHB carriers to cover ART services and treatments. In August of 2023, Connolly and Duckworth wrote to OPM to urge them to update the definition of infertility used by health insurance carriers participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) program to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community.
Text of the letter is available here.
